4 ms·

There are even machines in pubs and bars in the UK, which seems insane to me not being from here. Based on that and the dedicated gambling shops all over high s

There are even machines in pubs and bars in the UK, which seems insane to me not being from here. Based on that and the dedicated gambling shops all over high streets, this sort of low-level gambling seems far more accessible in the UK than in many other western countries.

newaccount74 4y ago
Same thing in Austria. They occasionally talk about banning them, but the companies operating the machines keep making donations to political parties...
shortcake27 4y ago
Pretty crazy - that article cites ~£900m in direct losses. Whereas in Australia the value is something like ~$25bn. And the population is 1/4 the size.
- BFLpL0QNek 4y ago
  The UK normally has one, maybe two gambling machines stuck in a corner of a pub. Australian pubs, restaurants, hotels have “vip” rooms. Rooms filled with gambling machines. They can’t advertise “pokie machines”, the Australian term for gambling machines so instead they renamed them to “vip rooms”, advertising under another name instead. Walking down a street you see pubs with separate entrances with big bold signs “vip room”. I’d guess “vip” rooms are the main income for Australian pubs as they’re such a prominent feature. Gambling is a massive industry in Australia. Australia gambles more than anywhere else. With so much money involved it seems it’s bit of a dark murky industry. A YouTuber journalist/comedian got firebombed just the other week after a series of investigative videos on New South Wales gambling corruption https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/friendlyjordies-dangerous-work-met-with-firebombing-attacks,17003 https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/friendlyj.... The same journalist has had his house raided by terrorist police on direct command from politicians for getting on the wrong side of them with corruption videos.
nikonyrh 4y ago
In Finland we have slot machines in all grocery stores and kiosks. During corona their usage got very low, which caused a big budget issue on arts and sports clubs since they relied on this income. It was all over the news on how bad it was that most people were no longer gambling.

newaccount74 4y ago

Same thing in Austria. They occasionally talk about banning them, but the companies operating the machines keep making donations to political parties...

shortcake27 4y ago

Pretty crazy - that article cites ~£900m in direct losses. Whereas in Australia the value is something like ~$25bn. And the population is 1/4 the size.

BFLpL0QNek 4y ago
The UK normally has one, maybe two gambling machines stuck in a corner of a pub. Australian pubs, restaurants, hotels have “vip” rooms. Rooms filled with gambling machines. They can’t advertise “pokie machines”, the Australian term for gambling machines so instead they renamed them to “vip rooms”, advertising under another name instead. Walking down a street you see pubs with separate entrances with big bold signs “vip room”. I’d guess “vip” rooms are the main income for Australian pubs as they’re such a prominent feature. Gambling is a massive industry in Australia. Australia gambles more than anywhere else. With so much money involved it seems it’s bit of a dark murky industry. A YouTuber journalist/comedian got firebombed just the other week after a series of investigative videos on New South Wales gambling corruption https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/friendlyjordies-dangerous-work-met-with-firebombing-attacks,17003 https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/friendlyj.... The same journalist has had his house raided by terrorist police on direct command from politicians for getting on the wrong side of them with corruption videos.

nikonyrh 4y ago

In Finland we have slot machines in all grocery stores and kiosks. During corona their usage got very low, which caused a big budget issue on arts and sports clubs since they relied on this income. It was all over the news on how bad it was that most people were no longer gambling.